Deal Reached on Bailout

Congress and the Bush administration have agreed on a preliminary plan for the $700 billion bailout bill, Washington leaders said after emerging from talks after midnight this morning. Though details need ironing out, “I think we're there,” announced Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. Work was to continue with a vote possibly as soon as tomorrow, the Washington Post reports.

Both sides made concessions in what could be the biggest bailout in US history, the New York Times notes. The plan contains limits on executive pay for participating companies by shrinking tax deductions if the execs’ salaries top $400,000. The government will hold equity stakes in some companies so that taxpayers stand to profit from the bill if the bailout is a success.
(More bailout stories.)